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Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork
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Settlement excavated by Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Soc. 1957-1978.
At least eight rectilinear enclosures were found, most lined along an earlier dyke. Not all enclosures were excavated internally, but some contained huts. The most likely dating for these enclosures seems to be 1st. century a.d.
One of the enclosures (enclosure D) seemed to be specifically for the purpose of iron working, and contained evidence of three furnaces.
The high iron content of the ores analysed, and especially its magnetic properties, suggest that ore was brought from the west side of Rosedale (8 miles to the west) rather than extracted on Levisham Moor itself. Rosedale is the only known source of magnetic ore in N.E. Yorkshire, and this occasioned a massive mining operation in c19th. a.d.
The Levisham Moor 'furnace house' is the oldest evidence of iron working known in N.E. Yorks. – by about a thousand years!
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Posted by hotaire
5th October 2006ce
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